Android localization system

Locate Me

Overview

Locate Me is a location based application for Android devices. It allows the users to see their friends' locations even if they are inside buildings.

This application takes advantage of the surrounding wireless networks to get the location of the device.

Add Friends

The use of the application is very simple and the only thing you have to do is to add your friends using their device ID as shown in the following figure:

After that, you are able to see their locations on the map:

Building Plans

If a friend of you is inside of a building and the plan of that building is available in the database, a button called “Get Plan” will be available when you press your friend icon. The plan image will be downloaded and placed over the map as shown on the following figures:

Add Places

In case there is no GPS signal available, you can manually add a localizable place. To do this, you have to go to “Places” and press the “Map It” button. A map will be displayed and you will be able to select your position. Check if it is correct and press it again. A dialog will be shown with the place information. Fill the form and press “Add Place” to confirm. After that your mobile phone will be able to be detected in that location even if no GPS signal is available.

Settings

In this menu, you can customize your application. There are available settings as name, status and the refresh rates:

Under development features:

In addition to these features, there are some functionalities being developed. This application can communicate with specific wireless sensors networks. As a result of that, we have developed some wireless modules with GPS and based on SimpliciTI (RF software protocol from Texas Instruments).